Mike Klis

Klis: Broncos' receiving corps poses balanced attack

Peyton Manning is part owner of the NBA Memphis Grizzlies and point guard of the Broncos' offense.

Not literally, of course. It's actually his wife, Ashley, who holds a small percentage of George Karl's future employer.

But Manning will be running the Broncos' fast-tempo offense this fall, dishing to a trio of hoop-equivalent 30-point scorers in Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker and Eric Decker.

Ever see a basketball team with three 30-point scorers play with unity? Besides every four years in the Summer Olympics.

"I would say I'd rather have three 30-point scorers than three 10-point scorers," Manning said. "It's a good problem to have. I wouldn't call it a problem. It's a challenge."

Let's call a 90-plus NFL pass catcher the equivalent of a 30-point scorer in the NBA. So maybe just Welker and Thomas are the 30-point scorers, while Decker, who had 85 catches last year, is a 25-point guy.

Still, it's difficult to maintain offensive balance while so many hotshots get their numbers. The Broncos had superb pass-catching balance last year as slot receiver Brandon Stokley and tight ends Jacob Tamme and Joel Dreessen fell in behind outside receivers Thomas and Decker.

The mix this year removes Stokley and his 45 catches and replaces him with Welker, who in six previous seasons with the New England Patriots averaged 112.

Therein lies the biggest difference between the Broncos' passing game and New England's. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady delivers a heavy percentage of passes to his slot receiver or tight ends. His top two outside receivers the past three years had just 95 (Brandon Lloyd, Julian Edelman), 66 (Deion Branch, Chad Johnson) and 72 (Branch, Brandon Tate) combined receptions, an average of 78.

Thomas and Decker had 179 last season. So why is Manning's arm strength so heavily scrutinized while Brady dunks and dinks with relatively little inspection?

For the Broncos' offense to become the NFL's most lethal this season, the new balance needs Thomas to get 85 catches with Decker and Welker coming in at around 75 each. All pass catchers will have to surrender some numbers this year, with the possible exception of Julius Thomas.

The strength of the Broncos' receiving corps, though, must remain on the outside.

"All those guys want the ball because they feel if they get it, it's going to help us win," Manning said. "So it's not selfish; it's being confident in their abilities. And those are the guys you want to play with. You want to play with guys that want the ball. And, believe me, I want to get it to all of them.

"It's 16 games and I think you have to let the whole season develop. I think we did pretty good spreading it around last year and it's something we'd like to do this year."

All players, even those who play at the NFL's most diva position, say they don't care about stats, that winning is all that matters. The difference with Thomas and Decker is they've already proved it. Both drafted in 2010, they each had breakout seasons in 2011 even though their quarterback, Tim Tebow, was the league's least-accurate passer.

Thomas learned patience in college. Here was a talent worthy of becoming the first receiver drafted, yet he played three years in Georgia Tech's option offense.

Thomas averaged just 40 catches a year in his three college seasons but he made them count for a 19.5-yard average. He had an NFL playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in which he had 204 receiving yards on only four catches — a 51.0-yard average.

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